The Refined Girl’s Guide to High School

With the beginning of my senior year starting, I realized how much knowledge I have accumulated throughout my three previous years of high school. Interestingly enough, most of what I have learned hasn’t been educational, but more of how to make it through high school. I want to share with you what I have learned, and things I would tell my freshman-self, so that you can have some of the tools you need to make the most out of your high school experience. I am going to start off with the most essential piece of advice for school is that you should have school as your main priority. Think of school as your job, try to learn as much as you can while you are there and strive for good grades. Your education is such a valuable asset, because nobody can ever take what you know away from you. Good grades are important, because they are a reflection of you, your work-ethic and your responsibility.

School offers a variety of amazing opportunities, and many students don’t take advantage of these opportunities such as; clubs, sports, extracurricular activities, and volunteering at school. Not only do these activities look great on your resume for jobs and college applications, but they can help you find what your passions are. School events are important as well, you should try to go to all the social events at your school such as; prom, homecoming, school meetings, and fundraisers. These events are great for networking, meeting new people from your school, and spending time with your friends. I am going to be completely honest with you about the social side of school, by saying that majority of the time it is a chaotic disarray of drama. Gossiping, spreading rumors, and bullying are horrible things that go on in all grades of school. As a refined girl, there are many things that you can do to discourage and not participate in this. Do not spread rumors, listen to them, or even talk about them because by doing such you are encouraging this behavior. It’s best to remember that the only people that start rumors either cannot compete with the person that the rumor is about, or they aren’t on the same level as that person and tearing down others is the only way to feel better about themselves. To keep your high school experience as drama free as possible, it’s best not to talk about your personal life in general, be careful with things you say, text, post, and snap. Anybody can misunderstand what you put out or rumors could start. Being kind to people is so important throughout school, for you and others. By treating people with the same kindness and respect that you would want to be treated, people will reciprocate that kindness to you. This will help you even years from now, by being remembered in a positive light and will help others by the positivity you bring into their lives. Something that I notice in high school, is conformity. Everyone is so unique and beautiful in their own way, and it is so important during school that you stay true to yourself. This will help you so much in the long run. You should be extremely selective about the people you consider your friends in high school. I don’t mean that you should form a clique and eschew certain people. With being selective about your friends it means you should have standards for people that are in your inner circle, surround yourself with high-caliber people, in addition to knowing the difference between friends and acquaintances. Some of my personal standards include; loyalty, trustworthy, sense of emotional maturity, ambitious, and confident. It is important to have standards for your friends, because your friends are a representation of you. Another type of relationship that is very popular in high school is having a partner. Personally, I would say no to this opportunity in high school. There are so many other things to do, and relationships are extremely time consuming. If you want to date in school there is so much to consider beforehand; your household rules, age difference, emotional maturity levels, your reasons for wanting a relationship and what you want from it. High school is a period where there is so much self-discovery and growth. It’s amazing how much you learn about yourself and the world during this short time. I hope that by reading this, you can have some of the tools you need to truly make the most out of your high school experience. Thank you so much for reading!